KNK (band)

KNK
Also known as Keunakeun
Origin Seoul, South Korea
Genres K-pop
Years active 2016 (2016)–present
Labels YNB Entertainment
Associated acts BESTie
Website ynbent.com
Members
  • Youjin
  • Seungjun
  • Inseong
  • Jihun
  • Heejun

KNK (Hangul: 크나큰; RR: Keunakeun, lit. "great" or "to be great") is a five-member South Korean boy band under YNB Entertainment, the company's first male idol group.[1] KNK is an initialism which stands for K-pop kNocK (Hangul: 케이팝 노크). It means "to knock on the door of the K-pop industry with their music." They made their debut showcase on February 29, 2016 and officially released their debut single album entitled "Knock" on March 3, 2016.[2]

History

Pre-debut

All five members of KNK were trainees of different companies before joining YNB Entertainment. They had a long training period for an average of 5 years.[3][4] As trainees, the members appeared in music videos of their label mate Bestie. They also performed as backup dancers for the group.[5][6][7]

On December 15, 2015, a teaser video of the boys was uploaded on KNK's official YouTube channel.[8] The following day, it was revealed that the group will perform at 2015 SBS Awards Festival (SAF) alongside Noel, Bestie and Almeng. On December 26, KNK performed for the first time to the public at SAF where they performed the two songs on their debut single album. On December 30, the band's first reality show, My Keunakeun Television, premiered on Naver TV Cast.[1]

YNB Entertainment opened their official Naver V app channel for the company's artists including KNK on January 8, 2016.[9] Beginning on the first day of February, KNK had real-time broadcast for almost every day via Naver V app as a countdown to their upcoming debut. The boys showed their daily rehearsals and preparations, as well as their album jacket photo shoot and the filming for their first music video.[10][11] On February 22, the company announced via SNS that the group would debut with their first single album on March 3, 2016.[2] On February 23 to 26, the band performed in several universities' freshman orientation.[12]

2016: Debut with "Knock"

On February 26, 2016, teaser for the music video of KNK's debut single "Knock" was released.[13] The song is composed by production team ButterFly, led by Hwang Seong-je who composed BoA's "Atlantis Princess", Lee Soo-young's "Whistle to Me" and more, while the rap part is written by member Youjin. Furthermore, their choreography was helmed by Prepix’s Ha Woo-shin and the music video was directed by Lee Ki-baek.[14][15] Three days later, the band had their debut showcase at Ilchi Art Hall, Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul, where they performed their songs "Knock" and "Angel Heart" as well as TVXQ's "Love in the Ice" and Kim Kwang-seok's "On the Street".[16][17]

On March 1, 2016, KNK made their debut on The Show, the band's first performance on a television music show. Their single album and music video for "Knock" was officially released on the 3rd of March.[18]

On April 15, 2016, the group had their first schedule outside of South Korea, and performed their debut single "Knock" at the 20th China Music Awards in Macau.[19]

Members

Youjin

Kim You-jin (Hangul: 김유진) was born on February 10, 1993 in South Korea.[20] He is a former TS Entertainment trainee and trained with the members of boy group B.A.P.[3] He appeared in music video of Bestie's "Zzang Christmas", and included as a backup dancer for the live performances of the song.[5]

Seungjun

Park Seung-jun (Hangul: 박승준) was born on October 28, 1993 in South Korea.[20] He is a former Big Hit Entertainment trainee where he trained with Bangtan Boys. He then moved to JYP Entertainment and trained with the members of Got7.[3] He appeared in the music videos of his label mate, Bestie, including "Zzang Christmas" and "Excuse Me". He was also one of the backup dancers for the live performances of Bestie’s "Zzang Christmas" and "I Need You".[5][6][7]

Inseong

Jeong In-seong (Hangul: 정인성) was born on July 1, 1994 in South Korea.[20] He is a former Big Hit Entertainment trainee with Seungjun, then moved to FNC Entertainment.[3] He appeared on the reality show Cheongdam-dong 111 in 2013. Inseong was a backup dancer for the live performances of Bestie's "I Need You". He also appeared with Seungjun in the music video of Bestie’s "Excuse me".[6][7][21]

Jihun

Kim Ji-hun (Hangul: 김지훈) was born on February 20, 1995 in South Korea.[20] He is the leader of the group.[22] Jihun is a former Nega Network trainee.[4] He appeared with Youjin and Seungjun in music video of Bestie's "Zzang Christmas", and included as a backup dancer for the live performances of the song. Like Seungjun, Inseong and Heejun, he was also a backup dancer for the live performances of Bestie's "I Need You".[5][7]

Heejun

Oh Hee-jun (Hangul: 오희준) was born on May 8, 1996 in South Korea.[20] He is a former FNC Entertainment trainee.[3] He appeared with Inseong on the reality show Cheongdam-dong 111 in 2013.[21] He was the vocalist and guitarist of Kokoma Band (꼬꼬마 밴드) that was established three months before filming Cheongdam-dong 111.

Discography

Single album

Title Album details Tracklist Peak chart positions Sales
KOR
[23]		 TW
 US World
KNK 1st Single Album 'KNOCK' 15 – –

Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions Sales Album
KOR
 US World
[25]
"Knock" 2016 – 18
  • KOR: –
 Knock (single)
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

Filmography

Television

Reality/Variety shows

Year Title Network Member(s) Notes
2013 Cheongdam-dong 111 tvN Inseong, Heejun [21]
2015-2016 My Keunakeun Television Naver TV Cast All [1]
2016 Let's Go! Dream Team Season 2 KBS Youjin, Inseong [26]
Star King SBS All Episode 442
After School Club Arirang TV All Episode 210

Videography

Music videos

Year Title Director(s) Notes
2016 "Knock" Lee Ki-baek[13]

Guest appearances

Year Song Artist(s) Member(s)
2013 "Zzang Christmas" Bestie Youjin, Seungjun, Jihun[5]
2015 "Excuse Me" Seungjun, Inseong[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lee, So-hee. "[기획] 2016 뉴페이스① 임팩트-크나큰-아스트로-우주소녀, 데뷔 임박 ‘곧 만나요’". Zenith News (in Korean). Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  2. 1 2 Lee, Ji-seok. "YNB 비밀병기 '크나큰' 전격 데뷔, 3월 가요계 지각 변동 예고". Sports Seoul (in Korean). Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Kim, Ye-na. "빅히트-JYP-FNC-TS 출신 크나큰…K팝 시장 노크(종합)". TV Report (in Korean). Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  4. 1 2 Lee, Eun-jeong. "크나큰 "꿈꿔온 데뷔, 간절했다…이름처럼 커나갈게요"". Yonhap News (in Korean). Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "베스티(BESTie) - 짱 크리스마스 (Feat. 유세윤) M/V". YouTube. YNB Entertainment. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "[ M/V ] 베스티(BESTie) - Excuse Me". YouTube. YNB Entertainment. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "베스티-니가 필요해 안무 영상". Instiz (in Korean). Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "크나큰 (KNK) - Teaser Trailer (티저 트레일러)". YouTube. YNB Entertainment. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  9. ↑ "YNB Entertainment Official Announcement". Twitter. YNB Entertainment. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  10. ↑ Park, So-young. "신예 크나큰, 데뷔곡 '노크' 안무연습 중 '깜짝 공개'". OSEN (in Korean). Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  11. ↑ Park, So-young. "신인 보이그룹 크나큰, 베일 벗었다…V앱서 '꾸러기 매력'". OSEN (in Korean). Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  12. ↑ Lee, Mi-young. "데뷔 앞둔 크나큰, 대학 신입생 1만명 만난다". Joy News 24 (in Korean). Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  13. 1 2 Kim, Ah-reum. "그룹 크나큰, 데뷔곡 '노크' MV 티저 공개…'완성형' 아이돌의 탄생". Aju News (in Korean). Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  14. ↑ Kim, Ji-yeon. "'완성형 보이그룹' 크나큰, 오늘(3일) 첫 싱글 발매 '女心 설렌다'". eNews24 (in Korean). Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  15. ↑ Lee, Joon-hyun. "[포토] 크나큰 '데뷔 쇼케이스 개최'". StarN (in Korean). Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  16. ↑ Baek, Cho-hyun. "'데뷔' 크나큰, 완성형 보이그룹의 저력을 기대해 (종합)". News1 (in Korean). Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  17. ↑ Kim, Ye-na. "‘데뷔’ 크나큰, 동방신기-김광석 커버무대 열창". TV Report (in Korean). Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  18. ↑ Kim, Ye-na. "크나큰, 오늘(3일) 데뷔 싱글 '노크' 발표…'가요계 출격 시동'". Nate (in Korean). BNT News. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  19. ↑ Park, In-young. "[현장포토] "스웨그, 시크, 풋풋"…아이돌, 色다른 출국길". Naver (in Korean). Dispatch. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 "Artists". YBN Entertainment Official Website (in Korean). Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  21. 1 2 3 "팀명이 우주소녀, 크나큰인 신인 아이돌 그룹 2팀". Instiz (in Korean). Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  22. ↑ Kim, Hyun-cheol. "[E포토]크나큰 리더 지훈의 멋진 포즈". SBS funE (in Korean). Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  23. ↑ "Gaon Album Chart". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
    • "KNOCK". Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  24. ↑ "Gaon Album Chart - March 2016 (see #27)". Gaon Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  25. ↑ "World Digital Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 16 March 2016. (subscription required (help)).
  26. ↑ Jeong, Sun-hae. "E대세 100명의 男 아이돌, '출발 드림팀' 뜬다". TV Daily (in Korean). TV Daily. Retrieved 15 March 2016.

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